The curbside prophet

“Love is like light and there are two kinds. The bursting fireworks of the moment and the solid, fixed stars that sometimes become obscured in the heavens, but are always there, year after year, for a lifetime. You must experience the first to appreciate the second. But be careful with the fireworks. They burn out quickly. And if you get too close, they can hurt.” ~Ann Rinaldi

If I had known then what I know now, I would have paid closer attention to the signs. As ‘they’ say in all ‘their’ infinite wisdom, hindsight is 20/20. At the time, I was so wrapped up in being a career wife and mother, meeting deadlines and making meals – I had no idea the message that was handed to me. Until it hit me with extreme clairvoyance.

I met Rudi a decent handful of months before the beginning of the end of my marriage. Under traditional circumstances, we may have become friends. Our children could’ve easily attended the same schools; our dogs could’ve fetched the same stick in the same dog park. But that intersection of fate wasn’t meant to be. Instead, Rudi was sent to teach me the difference between fireworks and stars.

Rudi is a curbside prophet. He entered my life only briefly, but his message will remain with me all my days. For, he gave me the knowledge of the daisy.

We hit it off famously. He dissected my personality in moments. He analyzed my sadness and offered hope for a brighter tomorrow. And he read my future like a fortune in the palm of his hand.

What he predicted for my heaven-on-earth could only be believed by the clinically insane. I never told anyone what transpired between us or Rudi’s prophesy. And, he left my life as quickly as he came.

It took me months to not feel his void. I would long for his guidance, as my life became very difficult, very quickly. It was right about then, my children and I packed up our few belongings and moved out to find a different course in the world.

Before he was gone for good, Rudi gave me this picture as a symbol of my future:

He once called me Daisy May.

As this story of love and life unfolded over time, I would soon come to understand why. 

Dance with me, 

~Daisy